Thursday, December 18, 2008

It's finally come to this. This is our first This Week In Adult Swim under the new schedule, and we bring with it the series finale of Moral Orel. Also on the list is a new Drinky Crow and the 2nd episode of Robot Chicken season four.

The Drinky Crow Show - Organs. After crashing the ship, Drinky is forced to go sober, and in his sobriety decides to become a hero. This episode was a little more enjoyable to watch then previous ones, with funny gags and jokes being more abundant this time around. But I think I'm still not getting the humor and tone just yet...Overall Score - 8.2/10

Robot Chicken - They Took My Thumbs. The first skit of the show has a Peruvian trible building what would become the cave from Raider of the Lost Ark, where Indiana Jones gets the Golden Idol and then runs from a boulder; a slightly amusing skit, but it drags on, no really, it's like the first half of the entire show. Next a man gets caught in the subway rail, and somehow must live his life stuck there, and turns into a musical number, once again, amusing but shouldn't take as long as it does. Next we see what Jason does when it's not Friday the 13th, and then we get some "radical" advice from Wildman. For the last, lengthy skit, The Justice League has a sidekicks event, but Martian Manhunter feels a bit left out. All in all a decent episode, with some funny lines here and there, but the length of the skits ruins the short and sweet style Robot Chicken has been known to deliver.Overall Score - 7.5/10

Moral Orel - Honor. Series Finale. After two seasons, it all came down to the final thirteen episodes, and now it's finally come to the end. Since the series premiered with its Christmas special, the episode fittingly opens (and ends) at Christmas. In fact, the only time skip in this episode features Orel outside the bar, as seen in said special, and quickly jumps to "One Year Later". The episode starts of with a lightning fast montage of the series, and soon leads into Clay and Coach Stopframe at the bar, as Clay leaves to engage in acts with Ms. Censordall, Stopframe begins to realize he no longer desires Clay. In a parallel motion, Orel also realizes he can't do as the Commandments say and "Honor thy Father" and feels a similar sense of depression. I can't really delve into much more without spoiling, but it does a decent job of wrapping up the series, especially in the ending sequence. My only gripe, besides the fact that this is in fact the final episode, is that I wish they could have done more. And sure, more episodes would have helped, but I just wish the show's last bang was created without so much slow, lengthy, dialogue. It's not the best episode of the show, but they certainly knew how to close it right.Overall Score - 9.7/10

And while it may be the fanboy thing to do, I feel that I should "honor" the series in its final episode ... with a VFH Seal of Approval. I think Dino Stamatopoulos deserves a lot of credit for the work he, and the rest of the show's staff, have done. They managed to bring a funny, yet heartfelt series to a television block infamous for targeting the stoner crowd. And while management may not have liked it, ultimately canceling show, Dino created a true work of art that will surely be missed. Here's to hoping we get seasons two and three on DVD soon!

And that does it for this week. It's a shame Moral Orel had to go, but I hope plenty people tune in for the show's finale and give it the recognition it deserves. As for next week, we'll have more Drinky Crow and Robot Chicken; not to mention debating whether or not I still feel this feature is necessary now that I have to write after the shows have aired ... we'll see.